Chronicles of the Leaf: Book 1: Darkness Falls
by PacificMind20
Summary: It's been two years since the Fourth Great Ninja War has ended. Madara has been defeated, Sasuke has returned, and an unprecedented peace washes over the world for once in a long while. But an ancient evil is awakening that could tip the balance of peace and toss the shinobi world into complete anarchy and chaos. Now, it's up to Naruto and company to save the world once again.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: What's up, guys! So I'm proud to say that this is my first FanFiction story and I hope that you guys enjoy it. This is, in fact, an adventure and romance fic with the main pairing being NaruSaku. It'll be a multi-book story that centers on the lives of those in the Leaf Village and some from others, mainly focusing on Naruto of course. Please review and give me your thoughts on the chapter. Anyway, I do not own Naruto!**

**So without further ado, Chapter 1 of Chronicles of the Leaf: Darkness Falls.**

Chapter 1: Discovery

The sun rays beat down heavily on Naruto's bare back as he slowly climbed the craggy face of the mountain. His hands were cut and his face was wind beaten as he pressed on, reaching each way to grasp positions on the rocky terrain. Although it was hard work, Naruto was definitely in his happy place. Training had become his favorite thing ever since the war ended, he would go out of his way to get a good session in everyday, striving to get just that much closer to the Hokage seat.

Naruto's hand suddenly slipped on the rock to his right and he slid down, his feet dangling over the dizzying drop below. He quickly shot his right arm back up and grasped another hold and swung his legs back up.

_That was close_, Naruto thought with a sigh as a look of relief was etched onto his face. _Better pay more attention or I may never see another ramen bowl_.

Naruto could easily use chakra to climb the mountain, but what sort of training would that be? He knew there was no better exercise than raw, physical labor.

After many more minutes of exertion, sweat, and will power, he reached the top of the mountain. He arrived at the last ledge and hauled himself over the edge, collapsing on the first solid ground he'd been on in over 9,000 feet.

The mountain was named Collosus and that wasn't for no reason either. It was the tallest mountain in the Fire Country and the most dangerous as well. The heat became unbearable at times around this area and the mountain was impossibly steep. Few men have ever reached its peak, even when using chakra. But Naruto was no ordinary man, he housed a tailed beast named Kurama who he is in complete sync with. He also single handedly defeated Madara after nearly dying and losing Kurama. Not to mention his various other achievements he's gotten over his lifetime. In simple terms, this act pales in comparison to his others.

It's been 2 years since that fateful war ended. Many innocent lives were lost in that conflict and almost the entire shinobi world. The Sage of the Six Paths Madara was almost too much to handle, he wiped out armies all by himself. But at the last moment, when all hope was seemingly lost, Naruto, accompanied by Sakura, returned to the field from the dimension housed by Kamui and dealt the final blows to him with the aid of Sasuke Uchiha and his gang. Evil was vanquished and the good guys prevailed. An age of peace, prosperity, and rebuilding followed it. People were happy again, nobody was fighting, countries got along. It was bliss.

Naruto returned from that war as a hero. He was world renown for his heroics and he even became somewhat of a celebrity. For a while, he signed at least a handful of autographs a day. He also got the attention from women that he had never received before, which was sort of jarring for him in a way. He, also, got promoted to the rank of Jonin. It would probably be a slap to the face of Naruto and Konoha if they kept Naruto at Genin level even after all he's done. Many viewed him as the heir to the Hokage throne for crying out loud.

Naruto took in air in gasps as he lay on his back and stared at the slowly moving clouds in the beautiful, blue sky. After a few minutes of rest, he sat up and took a water bottle out of his backpack, drinking it down in swigs.

_It's getting late_, Naruto thought as he finished off his water bottle, _I better get going, I've got a long walk back to Konoha_.

So on that thought, Naruto stood up once again and stretched his arms and legs in preparation for the downward journey. He walked over to the edge of the cliff and looked down at the sprawling expanse of mountain that stretched out seemingly endlessly in all directions.

As Naruto was about to jump down and begin his descent, something caught his eye about 300 yards down from his current position. There, a small opening could be seen that he had yet to notice. It looked almost.. Man-made?

Naruto quickly hopped out and slid down the face of the mountain, this time using chakra to reach the newfound spot quicker and easier. There was a small landing that a small carriage could fit on situated in front of an uncharacteristically flat wall with a strange logo imprinted on the center.

_What is this logo? I've literally never seen this before in my life. It almost looks like its meant for a clan but it doesn't belong to any that I've seen around here_. Naruto thought to himself as he stroked his chin in thought.

He reached out and grazed the image with his fingertips, then after a moment he pressed his palm against it. Suddenly, the wall began to shake and Naruto hopped back, his battle senses on full blast. The rubble around the area shook and Naruto thought that a rockslide could very well start from this. Just as he was about to leap away and continue down the mountain, the wall broke away from the surrounding mountain and fell with a great crash and a final shake to the ground. Naruto sighed in relief as he returned to stand in front of the now open entryway.

The collapsed wall revealed an opening that about three people, standing shoulder to shoulder, could fit through. It was dark inside and Naruto could tell that the passageway was about to the same size as the entrance and went on for quite a while. Under normal circumstances, Naruto wouldn't have even cared enough to explore this place but there was something.. strange.. about it that Naruto couldn't quite place his finger on. So Naruto stepped up and on to the collapsed wall and entered the cave.

Naruto quickly realized that a torch or light source of some sort was needed if he ever wanted to see anything. The light from outside lit up the dank hallway just enough for Naruto to notice an unlit torch hanging on the adjacent wall. He quickly took it down from the wall, went through a few hand signs, and a small flame danced across his fingertip and onto the top of the torch, lighting it instantly.

The torch illuminated the hallway enough to see quite a few feet in front of him and Naruto almost jumped out of his sandals when it did. On the walls were pictures illustrating horrendous acts of violence, graphic depictions of torture and murder. They lined the walls on either side, seemingly filling the entire area. Naruto now knew that this was no ordinary cave. These drawings looked ancient, but they seemed to be alive, like they were staring holes into Naruto's head. It sent a shiver down his spine.

"Alright this is just downright creepy," Naruto said to himself as he shook his head.

Naruto continued walking, even though every sense in his body was telling him to turn around and high tail it out of there. But there was an air of mystery surrounding this place as well, as if maybe something important was resting deep inside of it and Naruto had to know what it was.

The corridor seemed to stretch endlessly, there were no other paths but to follow the one, single, winding hallway before him. There were no signs of booby traps either, which seemed strange considering the type of place this was. The place seemed very much so solidly made, like the people were highly intelligent who designed it. The designs on the wall persisted as well, but the farther Naruto got, the more evil they seemed to be.

After quite a few minutes of walking, Naruto thought that he would never reach the end to the hallway. He knew he should probably just turn around, but once again, he felt drawn to keep walking. Finally, he reached a wall, or what he thought was a wall. It looked almost the exact same as the entrance to this place did, logo at the center and all, but this time there was a strange language encircling the logo. Seeing this, Naruto tried to do the same process he tried at the beginning but this time nothing happened. No shaking, no moving, nothing. Naruto tried pushing harder, he tried running his hand across all points of the wall, but none of it worked. If he could avoid it, he was going to try and avoid using force, but he was running out of options.

"Bingo."

Finally, he found a crook in the center of the logo. He grabbed it and twisted, thinking that would be the logical thing to do if anything was going to work. The room shook and the wall slowly started to creak open. Through the opening cracks, he could see that the area on the other side was considerably larger than the hallway he's been in up until now.

After a few moments, the wall opened completely and Naruto stepped through to the other side. The room was large, larger than his torch could illuminate. All he could notice was that there was a bridge cutting across the center of the room that led straight ahead. Water lay on either side and shot off in both directions. Naruto walked forward, and after just a few feet, torches that Naruto could not see prior to walking into the room blazed to life. They lined all of the walls in the room and lit the entire area completely. Naruto could now clearly see the area.

There were pillars and statues of strange creatures lining the walls. Each one looked vicious and curved with sharp eyes that seemed to follow Naruto as he walked. There was absolutely no friendliness to be felt in the room, he felt as if he was an intruder in their base. And he wasn't exactly sure who "their" was.

At the end of the bridge was an immaculate and ornate altar. Naruto knew that if anything in this place had any meaning, the answer was at the end of the bridge. He carefully jogged to the end of the bridge and came to a stop in front of the altar.

On top of the altar was something that Naruto hadn't seen until he was standing right in front of it.

"Woah.." Naruto said to himself as a look of surprise and wonder flashed across his face.

There, sitting neatly on top of a wooden holster, was a curved, wicked dagger with designs running all across it. That same language that Naruto saw earlier was etched onto the hilt and was wrapped around it.

But a sense of dread washed over Naruto. He knew that all of the evil in this place that he was feeling, was spawned from this very item.

Suddenly, there was a mighty crash coming from behind Naruto. He whipped around to see that one of the huge statues had fallen. Then, one after another, the statues continued to fall, shaking the entire cave, shooting water everywhere, and causing the area to crumble.

Thinking on his feet, Naruto shoved the dagger into his backpack and sprinted back the way he had come. Debris was falling all around him, crashing down onto the bridge he was running on. He leapt and dodged as he ran at full speed for the open door- or the door he thought was open.

Naruto saw ahead of him that, somehow, the door had closed itself once again. Knowing that he had no time to stop and figure out how to open it again, Naruto quickly flooded chakra to his hand and created a rasengan. He rammed the door with all of the energy in his left hand but nothing happened. The door seemed to absorb the chakra. Not stopping to think, Naruto punched the door with all he had and the door crashed inward, sending shards of stone flying down the corridor.

Not losing a single step, Naruto dove through the opening of the door and rolled up and onto his feet on the other side. He had dropped his torch somewhere along the way so he was now running blind.

_Kurama! I need your help to see here! Chakra apparently doesn't work on these rocks, so if we get trapped, we're done stuck!_ Naruto said inwardly.

_Just keep running! I'll take care of it!_ Kurama quickly responded from inside Naruto.

After a few more strides, light burst forth from Naruto as his nine-tails cloak emerged. Light and sheer chakra resounded from Naruto.

_Naruto! Switch with me and I'll get us out of here right now, we don't have time to run. This place is coming down!_ Kurama said.

_Alright, that's fine with me. Let's go, Kurama! _

As Naruto's eyes changed shape, Kurama quickly took over and rocketed, with blinding speed, forward, covering the distance down the hallway in seconds. Rubble and debris continued to fall. The cave was filling up quickly, causing Kurama to dodge in each direction at blinding speeds.

Finally, light poured from the exit as Kurama rounded the corner and looked ahead. Rock had almost completely covered the exit, just a few more rocks and there would be no escape. With a mighty roar and all the strength he could muster, Kurama pressed forward with all of his strength. Just as the hole was about to close, Kurama shot through the small opening with arms covering his face, and crashed down on the other side. The orange, setting sun looked so peaceful as well as everything else around the mountains. It was ironic.

_We made it, Naruto, but just barely._ Kurama said.

_Yeah that was close_, Naruto said back, laughing and scratching his head.

_You really should be a little more careful about where you go_. Kurama replied.

_Ah come on, Kurama, we've gotten this far. Besides, you have to admit that was at least a little fun!_ Naruto said back, snickering.

Kurama just sighed in reply and shook his head, slightly laughing.

_Here, you can have control again. I'm gonna go take a nap, don't get into any more trouble while I'm gone because I won't help you!_

_ Alright, whatever you say, man. We__'ll just see about that!_ Naruto replied while laughing.

After Naruto regained control, he noticed how late it had gotten.

"Oh, crap! I'm gonna be late and Sakura is gonna kill me!" Naruto said, panicking to himself.

But before he could worry too much, he stiffened. He reached into his backpack and pulled out the dagger once again.

"This thing.. Is strange. I need to get this back to Tsunade, she'll know what to do." Naruto said to himself, reaching and placing it, carefully, back inside his backpack.

The air was getting colder so Naruto pulled his shirt and jacket back out of his backpack and threw them on. He then stood up and raced back down the mountain, heading back home, to the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

End of Chapter 1

**A/N: So what did you think? Please review and let me know!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Sorry for the wait, guys. I had to do some pretty hardcore storyboarding and I'm pretty sure on how this entire series is going to pan out now. So thank you to those who reviewed and are reading so far! I hope you enjoy the story and bear with the plot until it picks up! Like always, please review and let me know what you think!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

Chapter 2: The Silence Before The Storm

The night air was cool and peaceful in Konohagakure. It was quiet and hardly any lights could be seen as far as the eye could see. All except in a particularly happening side of town. In a particularly busy restaurant, Keiko's, people were coming in and out. Waiters were hustling around to take and serve orders, customers were chatting, and that usual air of happiness was surrounding it. About midway to the back, in a booth with the largest window in the restaurant, sat a beautiful, pink haired kunoichi.

She was staring out at the stunning, starry night sky complete with a full moon sending pools of luminescent light down onto the dark earth. Her soft yet battle proven hands were fidgeting with the napkin that lay in front of her, clear signs of stress evident in her composure.

_Where is he?_ She thought as she gritted her teeth. _He should've been here over 30 minutes ago_.

Even though she knew no one in the room was noticing her being alone, she couldn't help but feel embarrassed. She was supposed to meet a certain someone here to discuss their upcoming mission and go over the routes they were going to take to get there, but their original meeting time was coming close to an hour ago.

The kunoichi still had her typical ninja garb on, complete with her red shirt, tight black shorts, and the tan covering that rests on top of her shorts. Their meeting wasn't supposed to be anything formal, just a quick talk and something to drink. But she had grown impatient and their meeting was apparently not going to happen.

_That idiot.. I'm gonna kill him the next time I see him! Ditching me like this, he's so irresponsible!_ She thought as she slowly rose, tossing the napkin onto the wooden table.

Suddenly, there was a crash as a blonde man barreled through the swinging, double door entrance and collided with a waiter who was carrying trays of food with both hands. Food, drinks, and curse words were flung around the room as the two fell to the ground. The room fell completely silent as everyone stared at the scene that just unfolded in front of them.

"Watch where you're going, jerk off!" the waiter said angrily as he scrambled around on the ground, picking up the wreckage. "I had my arms full with food that isn't easy to-"

The waiter froze as he finally looked at who exactly it was that crashed into him.

"Oh! Mr. Uzumaki, sir! I'm so sorry! I had no idea, I mean I didn't know that it was you when I-" the waiter rambled as he nervously looked at Naruto.

"Hey, hey. Calm down, man! You shouldn't even be apologizing right now, It's my fault! You've got every right to be mad. Here, let me help you clean this up," Naruto replied as he chuckled and scratched his head.

"N-n-no, sir, you don't have to do that. It's my fault, I'm just clumsy, you go take a seat and we'll take your order immediately and it'll be on the house," the waiter said as he kept his head down and hurriedly picked up the fallen items.

"No, I won't accept that. This is my fault and I'm not gonna let anyone else take the blame," Naruto said as he shook his head.

Naruto grabbed all that was around him and placed it on the empty trays. When they were both filled up, Naruto stood up and brushed off his already dirty training clothes. The waiter scrambled to his feet, bowed and thanked Naruto, grabbed his trays, and rushed to the kitchen.

After seeing this, a murmur of excitement went through the crowd. Everyone was excited to see the legendary savior of Konoha. All except one.

"Naruto!"

Naruto whipped around to see one very angry woman storming toward him.

"O-oh, hey Sakura! Sorry I'm late, I was on this mountain and it took me forever to get down, not to mention the heat and what not slowing me down. I would've been here sooner but-"

The pink haired kunoichi known as Sakura Haruno punched Naruto right in the arm.

"Ah! Come on, Sakura! I didn't mean to be late!" Naruto said, rubbing his now bruised arm.

Sakura grabbed him by the hand and drug him back to the booth, Naruto following nervously. The crowd was in total shock at the events that just unfolded. A celebrity being pushed around like he was a rag doll? That's not typically common place. Seeing that the scene was over, though, the people returned to their meals and conversations.

"Alright, Naruto. You've got about 5 seconds to explain yourself before I pummel you into next week!" Sakura said angrily, fire burning in her emerald eyes.

"Just listen to me, Sakura, I promise I've got a good reason," Naruto replied as he chuckled and looked back into her eyes.

Sakura softened a little at the eye contact and settled back into her seat.

"Well, alright then. Let's hear it," Sakura said as she let out a sigh.

Naruto began to tell her about all the events of the day. Everything from the journey to the mountains, to the cave, to the dagger, then back to how he go there. Sakura listened to all of this in silence, nodding at points to show that she was listening. When Naruto concluded, Sakura leaned forward and looked to be deep in thought.

"So, you said you found something that was inside, a dagger, right? Do you have it with you?" Sakura asked, her eyes filled with concern.

"Yeah I do, but I don't want to get it out here. I plan on taking it to Tsunade to let her take a look at it. I don't know what it is, Sakura, but I know it's not good." Naruto said back with a tone of seriousness.

"Alright, I understand. Let's go ahead and go now, I'm sure she's still awake. Probably drinking or something," Sakura replied, laughing slightly.

"Ya know, I bet she is," Naruto said back, laughing as well. "Let's go."

—

Tsunade sat at her desk in silence as she listened to Naruto's report. After hearing it all, she leaned back in her chair and folded her hands in front of her face in deep thought. She had no idea what exactly Naruto encountered.

"Oh, and here's the dagger that I found in there," Naruto said as he rummaged through his backpack and pulled out the item.

The blade was totally black with a golden, gleaming hilt. It seemed to be elegantly made and had a strange aura surrounding it. The same language that could be seen in the cave was engraved all along the hilt and even the actual blade.

Naruto handed it to Tsunade and stepped back. Tsunade turned it over in her hands and ran a finger across the hilt.

"So this is the language that was in the cave, right?" Tsunade asked as she looked back up at Naruto.

"Yeah, granny. I don't have a clue what any of it means, though," Naruto affirmed as he shoved his hands in the pockets of his blue pants.

"Hmm.. well this is.. interesting to say the least. Do you mind if I keep it here to have the scholars examine in the labs?" Tsunade asked as she stared at the apparent artifact.

"Sure. It's not like I've got any use for that old thing," Naruto chided as he chuckled.

Sakura, who was standing beside him, punched him in the arm.

"Show some respect you idiot! You may have just found something spectacular," Sakura hissed.

"Easy, Sakura.. That's the second time today.." Naruto grumbled to himself as he rubbed his already bruised arm.

"Why don't you quit being such a big baby and act like a man," Sakura whispered as she massaged her temples in frustration.

"You two should get a room," Tsunade said as she laughed. "Sakura I remember when I was your age and I flirted with guys like that. Most of the time we'd go eat somewhere nice, he'd pay of course, then we'd head back to his place and-"

"Lady Tsunade!" Sakura cried as her face turned beet red. She was gripping her shorts tightly.

Naruto just looked as if he had a huge, sudden interest in the weather outside. He fidgeted with the bottom of his jacket. Tsunade just laughed, the sound bouncing off the walls of the Hokage's office. After she controlled her laughter she wiped a tear and leaned forward.

"Anyway, I'll send this down to the scholars and they'll take a look at this. In the meantime, you two should go have a good time. You'll be leaving for quite a while in a few days for the friendly relations mission to the Land of Sound," Tsunade said as she was still stifling her laughter a little. "Oh and well done on the find, Naruto. I'll let you know what they find out about it."

"Thanks, Granny. Means a lot. Not like I did if for you or anything like that-"

Sakura suddenly grabbed Naruto by the ear and yanked downward. Naruto let out a yelp of pain.

"Thank you, My Lady! We'll just be going now!" Sakura said with a smile as she dragged Naruto out of the room, Naruto complaining all the way out.

After they were gone, Tsunade shook her head and laughed.

"Those two really are something else.." Tsunade whispered as she smiled and went back to work finishing the last of her papers so she could go home.

—

"Would it kill you to be a little more polite to our Hokage?" Sakura asked as she walked alongside Naruto down the dark yet beautiful streets of nighttime Konoha.

"It's just Granny Tsunade. She knows that I'm not being disrespectful," Naruto replied with his hands behind his head.

"Even when you are being disrespectful?" Sakura stated, one eyebrow raised.

Naruto just looked down for a minute and kept walking in silence.

"Alright, you win this one, Sakura!" Naruto finally said as he laughed. "I'll be more polite next time."

Sakura smiled and looked over at Naruto.

Over the last two years, Naruto had changed a little bit. His blonde hair was a little longer, he had a little facial hair now, and he had grown another inch or so. Sakura, on the other hand, has grown her hair out just a little longer, she filled out more, and she became one of the most beautiful women in all of Konoha. Most people questioned how a girl like her was still single.

"Hey, Naruto," Sakura said as she poked him playfully on the arm and stopped walking.

"Hey, Sakura," Naruto said as he chuckled and playfully poked her back and stopped as well.

"Everyone's heading over to Sasuke's to hang out," Sakura began. "And I would love it if you came with me."

Naruto's heart began to beat faster and his palms became sweaty. Ever since the war, Naruto and Sakura's relationship has been complicated. They weren't exactly "just friends" anymore but they weren't dating either. So Naruto still got nervous whenever they started heading in the dating direction.

"Uh.. Yeah, sure!" Naruto stammered out as he smiled brightly at Sakura.

"Alright, awesome," Sakura replied with a wide grin. She grabbed Naruto's hand and hurried of in the direction of Sasuke's.

—

They arrived at the large home of Sasuke Uchiha in a matter of minutes. After Sasuke had returned to the village, he inherited all of his clan's area and homes. So Sasuke resided in the largest home in the Uchiha sector. The house was large and articulate. It was amazingly vibrant considering Sasuke was such a dark person.

Naruto and Sakura walked up the small, stone pathway as the headed for the front door. After arriving at the door, Naruto knocks on it.

"We're pretty late, everyone's probably already here," Sakura said quietly as she toed a pebble on the ground with her foot.

"That's alright. Better late than never!" Naruto responded as he laughed.

There was a padding of feet and the door slid open revealing Sasuke Uchiha.

"What's up, idiot," Sasuke said with a smirk as he looked at Naruto, then he turned to Sakura. "What's up, Sakura. Come on in, guys. Just head for the back, that's where everyone is."

Sakura giggled and Naruto gritted his teeth. They removed their sandals and placed them by the door. They, then, walked toward the small door connecting the front room to the living room. Naruto was first to the door. He slid it open and stepped through, only to realize that it was completely dark in the next room. Sakura and Sasuke entered behind him and stepped to the side.

"Uh, guys. Shouldn't we turn the lights on?" Naruto said as he looked around.

"Surprise!"

The lights suddenly shot on and the room was revealed to be full of Naruto's friends. Kiba, Shikamaru, Hinata, Lee, TenTen, Choji, Ino, and Shino.

"Happy 19th birthday, Naruto!" they all said in unison.

They all clapped and hooped and hollered. Naruto just laughed and looked back at Sakura. She smiled back at him warmly.

"Nice one, Sakura. I had no idea!" Naruto said to her as she giggled. "Thanks, guys! You didn't have to do this."

They all just laughed and said that they did. Who could forget the hero's birthday?

"Now, let's party!" Kiba bellowed as he turned the music on.

—

A few hours later, the party was wrapping up and people started saying their goodbyes and heading home. After everyone had left, Sasuke went off to his bedroom. Leaving Sakura and Naruto downstairs alone. They left and began to head home, but Sakura insisted on going to Naruto's house for a while. After arriving there, they walked into the living room.

"Thanks, Sakura. I know you put this together, even though I told you not to do anything for my birthday!" Naruto said as he laughed and sat down on the couch.

"Now, Naruto. How could I not throw you a party?" Sakura replied flirtatiously as she ran a hand through her hair and plopped down next to Naruto on the couch.

"Well, thanks Sakura. This was awesome, I had a great time," Naruto responded as he looked at Sakura.

"Of course. When isn't it a fun party when I'm there? I would be offended if you said you didn't have a great time," Sakura said as she winked.

Naruto just sat there and looked at Sakura for a moment. "You really are amazing, Sakura."

She looked up and met his gaze, smiling gently. She reached over and placed her hand on top of his which was on his knee. Naruto stiffened at the contact but quickly relaxed as Sakura rubbed soothing circles on his hand. A new found courage shot through Naruto as he assessed the situation and he did something he'd been wanting to do for his entire life.

Naruto raised his free hand to her cheek and leaned in, his lips meeting hers, all in one motion. Sakura immediately returned the kiss, seemingly expecting it. Naruto deepened the kiss and leaned into her. She wrapped her arms around him in response and closed the distance between them. They fell back on the couch together, fully embraced. Naruto reached up and flipped off the light. The moon's soft light shown through the window as the wind blew softly. The night was quiet as they lay together on the small, living room couch.

End of Chapter 2


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